James Bryant Q&A

Raul Tano

03/09/2007

James Bryant is preparing for his final season at Miami.

What's your mindset going into this season? You've had some problems in the past, are they behind you?

I was told by a wise man that "Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is unseen, but today…today is my day." Ray Lewis told me that a couple weeks ago. He said not to worry about what happened in the past. It's a new beginning, a new time, and I need to do what I need to do now to help the team and myself. I can't change what happened last year, but it was last year. Yesterday was yesterday. I can't change yesterday. Right now, I'm worried about today.

What do you think about the fullback position and the way that Nix has implemented the position into the offense in the past? Have you heard anything from the coaching staff about that?

Well, I don't know why everyone wants to ask about fullbacks. There are 11 guys on the field and we all have to make plays. We all have to catch the ball, we all have to block, so I'm not worried about whether or not there's going to be a fullback on the field because the only thing that matters is the end result. We all have to win. It doesn't matter if I'm on the field or not. We all have to win, period.

You're a senior now. How's it feel coming up now for your fourth year? Has it been a good three and a half years?

Nothing's ever really good. I mean, I've had my ups and downs here, but at the same time, I'm looking at what I can do for my teammates to help them better themselves. I try to tell them about my mistakes that I made in the past three years.

Would you say you're becoming a better leader?

Like you said, it's part of being a better leader, helping the other guys. Whether it's in school out of school, I'm trying to help them be successful and not go down the path that they did.

Moving back to football, what do you think of new running backs coach Tommie Robinson?

He's a really down to earth kind of guy, but he's very direct. I like the way he coaches and I like the way he does his drills. There's a lot of stuff that we're going through. He's put us through hell and we're really exhausted by the time we finish. That's good though, because there may be a point in a game where you're going to be really exhausted headed into the final drive, and you'll be trying to get a first down. You have to suck that stuff up and play ball. So I'm glad that he's here, and I honor and respect everything that he says. I believe that the rest of the running backs respect everything that he says too. The way he does things, I think he's really going to better us as individuals and as a team.